In a tweet, Yatani said the funds had been channeled to various sectors including construction of boreholes in slums, cash transfers to the elderly, the water department and health.

"National Treasury's response to COVID-19 pandemic cuts across all sectors; health, water, etc. So far KSh 18B has been disbursed for various interventions (health, boreholes within slums, cash transfers etc. More resources to be released from Friday, April 23, with passage of supplementary budget," he said.

Treasury said the KSh 40 billion was an allocation (budget) set aside towards fighting the respiratory illness and was not the actual expenditure.

The country meanwhile received an additional KSh 513 million to boost its Emergency Response Fund kit from Denmark.

Kenya had confirmed 303 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, April 22. Photo: MoH.Source: Facebook

Denmark ambassador to Kenya Mette Knudsen said the money would be used to combat the virus specifically in COVID-19 hotspots such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Mandera, Kwale and Kilifi.

“The pandemic is a global challenge that calls for global solidarity. Even if the pandemic rages in Denmark, we have decided to provide another contribution of KSh 513 million to the people of Kenya during these challenging times,"

"It is our ambition that the funding will benefit the poor and vulnerable populations the most," the ambassador said.

The total grant from the European nation towards fighting the pandemic stands at KSh 833 million after it donated KSh 320 million earlier.

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